1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the detection apparatus for oil and, in certain instances, water, e.g., water leakages. More particularly, the present invention relates generally to a system to detect oil and/or water leakages that permits the detection of water on the bottom of oil tanks, including quench oil tanks, the detection of oil substances or water on or under boiler room floors or in gas stations, and the like, as well as new and useful absorbent means for their use therein.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the detection apparatus of the present invention may be used for detecting water vapor in quench oil tanks. This is particularly important for prevention of an explosive build up of water vapor in said tanks. The apparatus of the invention, in a preferred embodiment, allows for an early detection of the water vapor accumulating therein.
Still a further embodiment of the present invention provides a visual detection apparatus for the detection of surface oil. More particularly, this embodiment of the present invention relates to a detection apparatus for the visual detection of surface oil which employs non-electrical means in such detection so as to reduce the fire hazard risks associated with known electrical means wherein sparks created by the use of electricity can cause ignition of the oil.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that it is difficult to detect the presence of water on the bottom of either an ordinary oil tank or a quench oil tank from outside of such a tank. Additionally, the detection of oil substances and water, if such is the case, has also been cumbersome and/or uneconomical. Until the present invention, means for the detection of water in oil, for example, have included the use of devices having quite a large number of compartments filled with a water absorbent material which have had to be lowered into, and raised from, the tank in which the presence of water was to be detected, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,745,659; 3,951,812; and, 4,419,236, all issued to the inventor herein. The detection of the presence of water in oil could not take place with prior art devices without the removal of such devices through a tank opening, i.e., the sounding of an alarm or other signal outside of a tank when, for example, water was detected in oil did not exist.
Additionally, systems for the detection of oil or water, whether at the bottom of a tank or on a surface, relied upon absorbent materials that were often not well suited for the task. There is, for example, a need for an absorbent material that could absorb water, but not oil, and could withstand the high temperatures present at the bottom of a quench oil tank.
Quench oil tanks are employed to cool items which are heated to high temperatures, such as welded metal joints or carburized steel tools. In the course of employing such oil tanks, water will accumulate at the bottom of the tanks. The boiling point of the oil is much higher than the water, while the specific gravity of the oil is lighter than the water so that the water accumulating at the bottom of the tank will being to vaporize until its concentration is sufficiently great so that its vapor pressure will exceed that of the atmospheric pressure of the air in the area surrounding the tank so as to cause an explosion.
In order to prevent the foregoing series of events, workers are presently required to observe the quench oil tanks closely for evidence of bubbles, which would signal the time when the oil in the tank is required to be replaced. Human observation, however, is fraught with error and, therefore, there is a need to make the early detection of such water vapor both safer and, thus, prevent the foregoing hazard.
The prior art further includes surface oil detectors have been commercially available to the public and in use for some time. Known surface oil detectors are electrical devices which may be activated by various oil sensors. Illustrative of the prior art is Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,731, issued Feb. 9, 1971. Such detectors presently known to the art, however, pose a potential fire hazard. This fire hazard is caused, in part, because of the likelihood that sparks generated in the electrical system, such as, for example, those occurring in contact switches, are capable of igniting nearby oil.
Additionally, such electrical devices are also prone to insulation degradation. This occurs as a result of the fact that the elastomers, which coat the wires of such detection devices, undergo swelling, solvent deterioration and an overall degradation resulting from exposure to the volatile vapors arising from oil components, as well as from a direct contacting with the oil.
Heretofore, the prior art has lacked a sufficiently safe detection apparatus for detecting surface oil which avoids the foregoing hazards.